MADOG SON OF UTHER: A BRIEF STUDY

The Bulwark, Llanmadoc Hill, Swansea, Wales

I've placed much importance on Madog son of Uther.  In both of my current (rival) theories, he is used to help point the way towards an identification of Arthur's father.  For quite some time I held firm to the idea that he was Madog son of Sawyl Benisel of Sarmato-British Ribchester.  Only recently did I dare suggest that because Madog means 'fox' in Welsh, he may be a reference to Coroticus/Ceredig of Alclud, whose own men transformed magically into a little fox.  

This last is more than a bit of a strain, I'm afraid, as 1) Madog for fox is not attested in Welsh until the 16th century and 2) arbitrarily assigning Madog to Ceredig when so many other fox words are available to us in Cumbric or Irish is not very convincing.  I've demonstrated, for example, that near Ceredig's Alclud are two place-names containing a British personal name that means 'little fox,' something that perfectly matches Muirchu's vulpecula.  

Which brings us back, in roundabout fashion, to the very real possibility that Madog son of Uther is Sawyl's son.  

To help us decide whether to move permanently in this direction, I thought it might be beneficial for us to take a look at the various Madogs we know of from the 5th or 6th centuries A.D. There are not many such, and I've listed them all at the bottom of this post as they appear in the entries from P.C. Bartram's A CLASSICAL WELSH DICTIONARY.  Any argument of this nature assumes that Madog son of the terrible chief-warrior is otherwise known.  Needless to say, it must be admitted that we might have no record of him other than that which associates him with Uther.  

To summarize, there are only a couple of possible candidates.  Sawyl's son is one.  We know nothing about St. Madog.  One of his churches (West Gower) gave his name to the major hillfort known as The Bulwark.  There is a Penmynydd on the hill, and that place-name (or merely a descriptor for the end or top of a hill) is mentioned in the Uther elegy poem (line 22).  Cunedda and his sons were supposedly in Gower, chasing out the Ui Liathain.  As Marged Haycock mentions in her edition of the Uther elegy, pen mynydd may also be a reference to that place on Anglesey, which is associated with the Tudor family of the 14th century.  There are several 'Dragon' names at this Penmynydd, including red and white ones echoning those of Dinas Emrys fame. 

We can probably safely discount those Madogs whose estimated birth dates belong to the latter half of the 6th century.  Of those remaining, an interesting one is the son of Emyr Llydaw or the "Emperor of Brittany."  Bartram emphasizes that he is listed only in "some late versions of Bonedd y Saint."  But this does not necessarily disqualify him from our consideration.  It doesn't help that in the same MSS. he is alternately called the son of Hywel Fychan ap Hywel ab Emyr Llydaw.  

Uther was said by Geoffrey of Monmouth to hail from Llydaw.  The Welsh substitute Emyr Llydaw for Geoffrey of Monmouth's Budicius of Armorica.  There were a handful of Llydaw place-names in Wales (most notably Llyn Llydaw) and I earlier identified the Vale of Leadon bordering on Wales as another traditional 'Llydaw.' 

Madog son of Brwyn is thought by Bromwich to be an error for M. son of Rhun.  If so, he is too late for our purposes.  However, there was a Brwyn son of Cunedda.  We know nothing about him save the name of his horse.

Thanks to a poem in THE BOOK OF TALIESIN, we at least possess a character sketch for Madog son of Uther:

Madawg drut ac Erof 

Madawc mur menwyt.
Madawc kyn bu bed,
Bu dinas edryssed
o gamp a chymwed.
Mab vthyr kyn lleas
Oe law dywystlas.

Madog, the rampart of rejoicing.
Madog, before he was in the grave,
he was a fortress of generosity
[consisting] of feat(s) and play.
The son of Uthyr, before death
he handed over pledges.

(P. Sims-Williams, 'The Early Welsh Arthurian Poems', in R. Bromwich et al (edd.), The Arthur of the Welsh: The Arthurian Legend in Medieval Welsh Literature (Cardiff, 1991), pp. 33-71 at pp. 53-4)

M. son of Uther is mentioned ironically in a list of former worthies in a religious poem variously attributed to Prydydd y Moch (fl. 1173-1220) and to Cynddelw (fl. 1155-1200):

Rybu gamwetawc madawc modur faw;
Rybut wu itaw dylaw dollar.

Madog, famous leader, was false;
he had great profit: wretched sorrow!

The epithet camwetawc 'flase' here looks like a half-reminiscence of the sound of camp a chymwed in the elegy.

(Sims-Williams, 1991, p. 54)

Does any of the above contribute towards our search for Madog son of Uther?

Not really.  I'm personally unable to produce a more viable candidate from our extant records than Madog son of Sawyl.  If we go with that, there is the possibility that Sawyl is the correct reading for the word kawyl in the Uther elegy, and that Eliwlad son of Madog son of Uther should be emended to Eilwlad, 'Other land', in accordance with the Irish epithet Ailithir, 'Other land', of Madog Ailithir son of Sawyl. All of that, in turn, fits well with the Arthur name being preserved at either York or Ribchester of the Sarmatians (due to the involvement at both places of Lucius Artorius Castus of the 2nd century).

***

FROM https://www.llgc.org.uk/fileadmin/fileadmin/docs_gwefan/casgliadau/Drych_Digidol/Deunydd_print/Welsh_Classical_Dictionary/08_M-N.pdf:

MADOG, ST. Madog is given as patron of Haroldston West and Nolton in Dyfed, Llanfadog, a chapel in the parish of Llansanffraid Cwmteuddwr, Radnorshire, and Llanmadog in West Gower (PW 33, 343, 40, 54). At the last place his festival is kept on November 12 (LBS III.395). See also G.H.Doble, St.Teilo, “Welsh Saints” No.3, p.14.

MADOG ap BRWYN. He is mentioned in a triad (TYP no.61) where we are told that his was one of the ‘Three Golden Corpses’ of Ynys Prydain. Iolo Morganwg explained this as meaning that “their weight in gold was given for their bodies to purchase them out of the hands of those who had slain them.” (Myvyrian 'Third Series' Triad 77, see Trans.Cym., 1969, p. 135). This is one of three possible interpretations of the expression ‘golden corpses’ suggested by Rachel Bromwich (TYP p.166). Rachel Bromwich suggested that Madog ap Brwyn might be a mistake for Madog ap Rhun (TYP p.436). [I have checked Bromwich, p. 428, and Madog son of Brwyn son of Kynadaf is almost certainly a corruption of Madog son of Run y Kynnedvau.  Brwyn son of Cunedda is not found in the genealogies.]

MADOG ab EMYR LLYDAW. (450) He appears in some late versions of Bonedd y Saint as father of St.Rhystud (ByS §24a) and of Tewdwr Mawr (ByS §47). See EWGT pp.58, 61.

MADOG ap LLYWARCH HEN. (550) One of the sons of Llywarch Hen mentioned in two stanzas of the Llywarch Hen poetry. In the first (CLlH I.42) he is one of seven sons: Brave men, warlike brothers. See full quotation s.n. Maen. In the second (CLlH I.40), speaking of the graves of his sons, Llywarch is represented as saying: Neither Pwyll nor Madog would be long-lived, because of the custom which they observed: Whether they gave one or not, never would they ask for a truce. He occurs in the list of the sons of Llywarch Hen in the ‘Hanesyn Hen’ tract (ByA §5 in EWGT p.86). Pwyll is perhaps an error for Pyll (PCB).

MADOG ap LOCRINUS. See Maddan.

MADOG ap RHUN. (570) One of the ‘Three Gate-Keepers’ at the battle of Perllan Fangor [see Caerlleon] according to a triad (TYP no.60). This was probably in about A.D.616. See also Madog ap Brwyn. He is probably the same as Madog ap Rhun ap Cenelaph Dremrudd who appears in a pedigree in Jesus College MS.20 as a descendant of Casanauth Wledig; father of Merin and ancestor of Noë ap Madog (JC §16 in EWGT p.46). The pedigree is apparently of a line of princes of Powys. See discussion in Cy., 43 (1932) pp.59-61.

MADOG ap SANDDE. (670) Genealogical link in a line of princes, probably of Powys; father of Noë (JC §16 in EWGT p.46).

MADOG (MATÓC AILITHIR) ap SAWYL BENISEL. See Sawyl Benisel ap Pabo.

[SAWYL BENISEL ap PABO POST PRYDYN. (480) ‘S. Low-head or Humble’. He is mentioned in the ‘Harleian’ genealogies as son of Pabo Post Prydyn and father of Guitcun (§19 in EWGT p.12). Most later sources change his cognomen to Benuchel, ‘High-head or Proud’, namely ByS 13, AchS 12, BGG 4 in EWGT pp.56, 69, 73. He was father of St.Asa by Gwenasedd ferch Rhain of Rhieinwg (ByS 13). He is evidently the same as Samuel Chendisil the father of Matóc Ailithir and Sanctan by Deichter daughter of Muredach Muinderg, king of Ulster (MIS §1 in EWGT p.32). A daughter was the wife of Maelgwn Gwynedd (q.v).]

MADOG ab UTHR. (Legendary). A brother of Arthur of whom almost nothing is known. An elegy to him occurs in the Book of Taliesin (BT 66.9-11): Madawc, a rampart of joy(?); Madawc, before he was in the grave, was a fortress of abundance, of exploits and jests. Son of Uthyr; before he was slain he gave a pledge (?) from his hand. See TYP p.521; AoW 53-54. He is otherwise mentioned only as the father of Eliwlod (q.v.).

MADOG ELFED. A hero mentioned several times in the Gododdin of Aneirin: Warriors are described as returning to Pebyll Madawc, ‘Madog's tent’ (CA stanzas 2, 69A, B). In stanza 31 he is among several other warriors of whom it is said ‘Though they were slain, they slew’; and in stanza 96 he is called Madog Elfed who ‘was a destructive bearer of a shield’. See Kenneth Jackson, The Gododdin, 1969, pp.109, 116, 143, 129, 106, respectively. Compare Ceredig of Elfed.

MADOG MADOGION. (640) Father of Dwyfnerth and ancestor of Cynddelw Gam (q.v.). According to the genealogies he was son of Sandde Bryd Angel ap Llywarch Hen (ABT 1c, HL 5a in EWGT pp.96. 115). In ABT 6i (EWGT p.100) he is made son of Mechydd ap Sandde Bryd Angel, but this is perhaps a mistake, as Mechydd was a son of Llywarch Hen. In neither case is the pedigree long enough to satisfy chronology. The epithet Madogion suggests that he gave his name to a tribe named Madogion. This is confirmed by the poet Cynddelw who in his poem ‘Gwelygorddau Powys’ mentions the Madogion as one of the tribes of Powys: Madogyon Madawc essillit. The Madogion, offspring of Madog. (LlH p.164, RBP col.1396).

Not listed in Bartram: the MABINOGION'S ('Culhwch and Olwen') M. son of Teithyon and M. son of Twrgadarn.  Nothing is known of these two warriors.  Also there is a Maddock (from Madog) in the Maddock's Hill name at The Wrekin hillfort near Viroconium/Wroxeter.  I have this on the Wrekin name:

"The name has come from the folk tale about how The Wrekin was formed by a giant named Madog.

Have a look at page 13 in the booklet here:

http://www.wellingtonla21.org.uk/discover/pdf/Wrekin.pdf

Wellington Library may know more about its history, as they have a Local History Centre. This is not one of our libraries, it is run by Telford and Wrekin Council, so you will need to contact them directly  – details can be found here:

https://www.telford.gov.uk/info/20406/find_a_library/3438/wellington_library

Hope that helps.

Kind regards,

Rachel Shepherd
Team Librarian

Shropshire Libraries